Final Exits, 22-28 July 2011

Frank Foster (left) and Dan Morgenstern in 2008. (Photo: nea.gov)

Obituaries for 22-28 July 2011

22
* Tom Aldredge, 83, American actor (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire), lymphoma.
* Linda Christian, 87, Mexican-born American actress, first Bond girl (1954 television adaptation of Casino Royale).
* Tore Eikeland, 21, Norwegian politician, killed in 2011 Norway attacks. (Norwegian)
* Dmitri Furman, 68, Russian historian and philosopher, after long illness. (Russian)
* Charles Manatt, 75, American lawyer, banker and political figure, complications of a stroke.
* Malcolm Muir, 96, American jurist.
* Ifti Nasim, 64, Pakistani-born American poet and radio host, heart attack.
* Tex Nelson, 74, American baseball player (Baltimore Orioles).
* Wolfram Thiem, 55, German Olympic rower. (German)
* Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, 79, New Zealand politician, longest-serving female member of the House of Representatives (1967–1996).
* Brian Vallee, 70, Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker, cancer.
* Cees de Wolf, 65, Dutch footballer (Ajax Amsterdam). (Dutch)

23
* David Aiken, 93, American operatic baritone and opera director.
* Toyoo Ashida, 67, Japanese animator (Fist of the North Star, The World of Narue, Gulliver Boy, F-Zero: GP Legend) (Japanese)
* Mathilde Aussant, 113, French supercentenarian, oldest person in France.
* Terence Boston, Baron Boston of Faversham, 81, British politician, MP for Faversham (1964–1970).
* John Chervokas, 74, American advertising writer.
* Robert Ettinger, 92, American cryonicist, respiratory failure.
* Ina van Faassen, 82, Dutch actress. (Dutch)
* Jack Fitzpatrick, 88, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Country Curtains, Massachusetts State Senator (1973–1980).
* Milton Gwirtzman, 78, American speech writer, advisor to the Kennedy family, metastatic melanoma.
* Johnny Hoes, 94, Dutch singer, composer and producer. (Dutch)
* Fran Landesman, 83, American lyricist and poet.
* Butch Lewis, 65, American boxing promoter, heart attack.
* Conrad Meyer, 89, British prelate, Bishop of Dorchester (1979–1988)
* Bill Morrissey, 59, American singer-songwriter.
* Nguyen Cao Ky, 80, Vietnamese air force chief and political leader, Prime Minister of South Vietnam (1965–1967).
* Richard Pike, 61, British chemist.
* George Ramos, 63, American reporter, editor and columnist (Los Angeles Times).
* Daryoush Rezaei, 35, Iranian nuclear scientist, shot.
* John Shalikashvili, 75, Polish-born American army general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1993–1997), stroke.
* Elmer B. Staats, 97, American public servant, Comptroller General of the United States (1966–1981).
* Amy Winehouse, 27, British singer-songwriter ("Rehab").

24
* Kaveinga Fa'anunu, 48, Tongan politician, MP for Tongatapu 9 (since 2010), head and neck cancer.
* Tresa Hughes, 81, American actress (Another World, Don Juan DeMarco, Fame).
* Gilbert Luján, 70, American painter, prostate cancer.
* Paul Marchand, 74, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Timmins (since 1999).
* Josip Bobi Marotti, 89, Croatian actor. (Croatian)
* Christopher Mayer, 57, American actor (The Dukes of Hazzard, Santa Barbara, Liar Liar).
* Virgilio Noè, 89, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Peter (1991–2002).
* Mike Palm, 86, American baseball player (Boston Red Sox).
* Dan Peek, 60, American singer-songwriter (America).
* David Servan-Schreiber, 50, French physician, neuroscientist and author, cancer.
* G. D. Spradlin, 90, American actor (North Dallas Forty, The Godfather Part II).
* Skip Thomas, 61, American football player (Oakland Raiders), apparent heart attack.
* Jane White, 88, American actress (Beloved, Klute, Once Upon a Mattress).

25
* Michael Cacoyannis, 89, Cypriot filmmaker (Zorba the Greek).
* Bakır Çağlar, 69–70, Turkish jurist, lawyer and constitutional law professor, bleeding stomach. (Turkish)
* V. S. Krishna Iyer, 89, Indian activist and politician, after long illness.
* Jeret Peterson, 29, American free style skier, 2010 Winter Olympics silver medalist, suicide by gunshot.
* Ravichandran, 71, Malaysian-born Indian actor, lung infection.
* Mike Reaves, 52, American rock musician (Full Devil Jacket), prostate cancer.
* Irma Schmidt, 112, American supercentenarian, Connecticut's oldest resident.

26
* Joe Arroyo, 55, Colombian singer.
* Jacques Fatton, 85, French-born Swiss footballer. (German)
* Frank Foster, 82, American jazz saxophonist and composer, complications from kidney failure.
* Bobby Franklin, 54, American politician, apparent heart attack.
* Richard Harris, 63, American football player (Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks) and coach (Winnipeg Blue Bombers), heart attack.
* Sakyo Komatsu, 80, Japanese science fiction writer, pneumonia.
* Georges Kwaïter, 83, Syrian-born Lebanese Melkite Catholic hierarch, Archbishop of Saïdā (1987–2006).
* Elmer Lower, 98, American broadcast executive, president of ABC News (1963–1974).
* Silvio Narizzano, 84, Canadian-born British film and television director.
* Margaret Olley, 88, Australian painter.
* Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz, Mexican journalist, cut throat. (body found on this date)
* Josephine C. Reyes, 82, Filipino educator, President of Far Eastern University (1985–1989).
* Howard Stein, 84, American financier, complications of a stroke.
* Tim Smooth, 39, American rapper, cancer.

27
* Wilfred Arsenault, 57, Canadian politician, cancer.
* Rudolf Baláž, 70, Slovak Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Banská Bystrica (since 1990).
* Richard Chavez, 81, American activist and labor organizer, brother of Cesar Chavez, complications from surgery.
* Ghulam Haider Hamidi, 65, Afghan politician, Mayor of Kandahar (since 2007), bombing.
* Rei Harakami, 40, Japanese musician, cerebrovascular disease. (Japanese)
* Hideki Irabu, 42, Japanese baseball player (Chiba Lotte Marines, New York Yankees, Montreal Expos), hanged. (body discovered on this date)
* Jerome Liebling, 87, American photographer, filmmaker and academic (Hampshire College).
* Polly Platt, 72, American film producer (Say Anything...), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
* Bejaratana Rajasuda, 85, Thai royal, only daughter of King Vajiravudh of Thailand.
* Eduard Rozovsky, 84, Russian cinematographer (Amphibian Man, White Sun of the Desert), car accident. (Russian)
* Pietro Sambi, 73, Italian-born Vatican Roman Catholic titular archbishop, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States (since 2005), respiratory failure.
* Francis John Spence, 85, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Kingston (1982–2002).
* John Stott, 90, British Anglican clergyman.

28
* Elazar Abuhatzeira, 70, Moroccan-born Israeli rabbi, stabbed.
* Frank Bender, 70, American forensic artist, pleural mesothelioma.
* Bernd Clüver, 63, German singer, complications from a fall. (German)
* Howard W. Creecy, Jr., 57, American preacher and civil rights leader, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, heart attack.
* Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, 25, British journalist, explosion.
* David Legrant, 87, American acting teacher and actor.
* Agapito Lozada, 72, Filipino Olympic swimmer.
* John Marburger, 70, American physicist and presidential adviser, non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
* Fortino Cortés Sandoval, 39, Mexican politician, Mayor of Florencia de Benito Juárez, shot. (Spanish) (body found on this date)
* Judy Sowinski, 70, American roller derby player. (death reported on this date)
* Jack Thompson, 82, British politician, MP for Wansbeck (1983–1997). (death reported on this date)
* John Milton Yinger, 95, American sociologist.
* Abdul Fatah Younis, 67, Libyan rebel leader and government official, former Interior Minister, shot.

Cuban-born Writer Eliseo Alberto Dies in Mexico

Cuban-born writer and journalist Eliseo Alberto, living in exile in Mexico, has died at the age of 59.

Alberto, nicknamed Lichi, died Sunday at a hospital in Mexico City after receiving a kidney transplant on July 18.

He was celebrated as one of the best contemporary Spanish-language poetry and prose writers. He also wrote television scripts and taught at film schools in Mexico and elsewhere.

Alberto said his books explored Christian themes such as regret, forgiveness and punishment.

In 1998, he received the Premio Alfaguara de Novela, an international Spanish-language literary award, for his novel “Caracol Beach.”

Alberto was born in 1951 in Arroyo Naranjo, Cuba and was the son of Cuban poet and intellectual Eliseo Diego.

In his autobiographical work “Informe contra mi mismo” he described how the Cuban security authorities asked him to report on his father's activities.

Private Funeral Tuesday for Amy Winehouse

Flowers, photos and other tributes outside the home of Amy Winehouse in Camden, London, on the evening of her death on 23 July 2011. (Photo: Etrevino)

Private Funeral Tuesday for Amy Winehouse
Tuesday, 26 July 2011

The family of Amy Winehouse is set to hold a private funeral Tuesday for the British singer, who was found dead Saturday inside her home.

A family spokesman said Winehouse will be buried in a private ceremony for family and close friends.

London police said Monday an autopsy failed to determine how the 27-year-old died. They are calling her death unexplained, but say it is not suspicious.

Forensic experts will now carry out toxicology tests, whose results could take several weeks.

Winehouse's parents stepped outside the singer's London home Monday to thank gathered mourners and fans for their support.

The singer led a tumultuous life, struggling with drugs, alcohol and abusive relationships even while critics and fans hailed her as a masterful blues and jazz artist. She gained worldwide success with her Grammy award-winning second album Back to Black.

But Winehouse also struggled to keep her career on track. She cancelled her European tour last month after an audience in Serbia booed her off the stage when she appeared to be disorientated and incoherent.

Final Exits, 15-21 July 2011

Alex Steinweiss, 1947. (Photo: William P. Gottlieb/United States Library of Congress Music Division)

Obituaries for 15-21 July 2011

15
* Helen Beverly, 94, American actress, natural causes.
* Frankie Daye, 77, American child actress, lung cancer.
* Ed Flesh, 79, American art director, inventor of the Wheel of Fortune wheel, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
* Cornell MacNeil, 88, American operatic baritone.
* Norbert Olberz, 86, German-born American businessman, founder of the Sport Chalet retail chain, natural causes.
* John S. Toll, 87, American physicist and educational administrator, heart failure.
* Googie Withers, 94, English actress.

16
* Milo Anstadt, 91, Dutch journalist and writer. (Dutch)
* Bertalan Bicskei, 66, Hungarian footballer and coach. (Hungarian)
* Forrest Blue, 65, American football player (San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Colts).
* Geraint Bowen, 95, Welsh poet. (Welsh)
* John Crook, 80, British ethologist.
* Rouhollah Dadashi, 30, Iranian powerlifter and bodybuilder, stabbed. (Persian)
* Ante Garmaz, 83, Croatian-born Argentine fashion designer and model, after long illness. (Spanish)
* Lloyd Gerber, 87, American cowboy poet, abdominal aortic aneurysm.
* Albin Małysiak, 94, Polish Roman Catholic prelate, auxiliary bishop of Krakow (1970–1993). (Polish)
* Dame Katerina Mataira, 79, New Zealand educator and Maori language proponent, co-founder of Kura Kaupapa Māori.
* Cesare Mazzolari, 74, Italian-born South Sudanese Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Rumbek (since 1998).
* Joe McNamee, 84, American basketball player (Rochester Royals, Baltimore Bullets).
* Kazimierz Neumann, 77, Polish Olympic rower. (Polish)

17
* Juan Arza, 88, Spanish footballer and coach. (Spanish)
* Dionysios Bairaktaris, 84, Greek Orthodox hierarch, Metropolitan of Chios, Psara and Inousses (since 1979). (Greek)
* Juan María Bordaberry, 83, Uruguayan politician and dictator, President (1972–1976), after a long illness.
* Jan Mohammed Khan, Afghan presidential adviser, shot.
* Jim Kincaid, 76, American news correspondent (ABC News), anchorman (WVEC) and essayist, heart attack.
* John Kraaijkamp, Sr., 86, Dutch actor and comedian. (Dutch)
* Takaji Mori, 67, Japanese Olympic bronze medal-winning (1968) footballer, renal pelvic cancer.
* Joe Morris, Sr., 85, American Navajo World War II code talker.
* David Ngoombujarra, 44, Australian actor.
* Ştefan Sameş, 59, Romanian footballer (Steaua Bucureşti), cancer. (Romanian)
* Alex Steinweiss, 94, American graphic designer, inventor of the album cover.
* Taiji, 45, Japanese musician and singer-songwriter (X Japan), suicide by hanging.
* Joe Lee Wilson, 75, American jazz singer.

18
* Salvador Bernárdez, 58, Honduran football player, heart attack. (Spanish)
* Sid Cooper, 94, American musician.
* Albert Driedger, 75, Canadian politician, stroke.
* Bernard Gavzer, 90, American writer and Emmy Award-winning television producer, neck cancer.
* Ernesto Goldar, 71, Argentine writer, heart attack. (Spanish)
* Sean Hoare, 47, British showbiz journalist (News of the World), whistleblower in a phone hacking scandal. (body found on this date)
* Magnus Malan, 81, South African politician, Minister of Defence (1980–1991), natural causes.
* Lillian Mobley, 81, American activist, helped establish the Martin Luther King, Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center.
* Giulio Rinaldi, 76, Italian Olympic boxer.
* Bob Stenehjem, 59, American politician, member of the North Dakota Senate (since 1993), majority leader (since 2001), car accident.
* James Wong, 89, Malaysian politician, first Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak, heart attack.
* Ludvik Zajc, 68, Slovenian Olympic ski jumper. (Norwegian)

19
* Boris Biancheri, 80, Italian writer and diplomat. (Italian)
* William Leonard D’Mello, 80, Indian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Karwar (1976–2007).
* Remo Gaspari, 90, Italian politician and minister, stroke. (Italian)
* Yoshio Harada, 71, Japanese actor, pneumonia. (Japanese)
* Henrique Johannpötter, 78, German-born Brazilian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Bacabal (1989–1997).
* Pierre Jonquères d'Oriola, 91, French Olympic gold (1952, 1964) and silver (1964, 1968) medal-winning equestrian.
* Jacques Jouanneau , 84, French actor. (French)
* Brendan Kehoe, 40, Irish software developer and author, acute myeloid leukemia.
* Karen Khachaturian, 90, Russian composer. (Russian)
* Roy Meehan, 79, New Zealand Olympic wrestler.
* James T. Molloy, 75, American government officer, last Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives (1974–1993), complications of diabetes.
* Sir Julian Oswald, 77, British admiral.
* Arsenie Papacioc, 97, Romanian Orthodox Archimandrite, cardiac arrest.
* Serhiy Podhornyi, 57, Ukrainian actor (Only Old Men Are Going to Battle). (Russian)
* Cec Thompson, 85, British rugby league player.

20
* Lucian Freud, 88, German-born British painter.
* Isaia Italeli, 40s, Tuvaluan Cabinet minister. (body found on this date)
* Myra Kraft, 68, American philanthropist, wife of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, cancer.
* Gloria Sawai, 78, Canadian author.
* Vadim Tedeyev, 65, Russian ballet dancer and teacher, People's Artist. (Russian)

21
* Ashleigh Connor, 21, Australian soccer player, car accident.
* Pedro Claro Meurice Estiu, 79, Cuban Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba (1970–2007).
* Elliot Handler, 95, American businessman, co-founder of Mattel and namer of the Barbie doll, heart failure.
* Allison Harte, 58, American disc jockey (WLAV-FM), drowned.
* Carl Kraushaar, 84, American college basketball player (UCLA).
* Slavomir Miklovš, 77, Croatian Greek Catholic hierarch, Bishop of Križevci (1983–2009).
* Bruce Sundlun, 91, American politician, Governor of Rhode Island (1991–1995).
* Kazimierz Świątek, 96, Belarusian Roman Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev (1991–2006).
* Elwy Yost, 86, Canadian television host and writer.

Zorba Director Cacoyannis Dies at 89

World renown Greek film director Michael Cacoyannis, whose 1964 movie Zorba the Greek became an instant classic, has died at age 89.

He had been suffering from heart and breathing problems.

The Cypriot-born Cacoyannis began his career in London working for the the British Broadcasting Corporation, where he developed an interest in theater and film.

He made his directing debut with 1954's Windfall in Athens and followed it two years later with the award-winning Stella, starring Melina Mercouri.

Cacoyannis became an international name with 1964's Zorba the Greek — a critical and popular success starring Anthony Quinn as a lusty and exuberant Greek coal miner who befriends a cynical and unhappy English writer.

Zorba earned Cacoyannis an Academy Award nomination as Best Director.

Former US Joint Chiefs Chairman Shalikashvili Dies

General Shalikashvili greets President Bill Clinton. (Photo: U.S. Army)

Former US Joint Chiefs Chairman Shalikashvili Dies
Saturday, 23 July 2011

Retired U.S. General John Shalikashvili, the first foreign-born chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, has died at age 75.

There were no immediate reports on the cause of Shalikashvili's death. He suffered a stroke in 2004.

General Shalikashvili served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 1993 to 1997 under then-President Bill Clinton. He made decisions on U.S. military involvement in Bosnia, Haiti and other troubled spots in the world.

Shalikashvili was born in Poland in 1936 and came to the U.S. as a teenager. He rose through the ranks in the Army and succeeded former General Colin Powell as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer, in 1993.

Following word of Shalikashvili's death Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama said the general's “extraordinary life represented the promise of America.” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called him an “extraordinary patriot who faithfully defended his country for four decades, rising to the pinnacle of the military profession.” The current chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, said during Shalikashvili's tenure as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he “skillfully shepherded” the U.S. military through the early years of the post-Cold War era.

General Shalikashvili spent his later years living near Fort Lewis in the western U.S. state of Washington.

Former South Vietnam Leader Nguen Cao Ky Dies

Saturday, 23 July 2011

Nguyen Cao Ky, the former leader of South Vietnam, has died. He was 81 years old.

His family said Ky died Saturday at a hospital in Malaysia where he was being treated for respiratory complications.

Ky served as commander of the air force and as prime minister of U.S. backed South Vietnam during the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s.

He also served as vice president under General Nguyen Van Thieu. When Thieu's government in Saigon fell to North Vietnamese troops in 1975, Ky fled the country piloting a helicopter to a U.S. Navy ship.

He and his family eventually settled in the United States.

In 2004, Ky made headlines when he visited Vietnam, dropping his staunchly anti-communist rhetoric.

Ky is survived by six children and 14 grandchildren. A date for his funeral has not been announced.

(Photo: Nguyen Cao Ky, 20 March 1967)

British Singer Amy Winehouse Dies at 27



Amy Winehouse at the Eurockéennes of 2007 (Photo: Bojars)

British Singer Amy Winehouse Dies at 27

Saturday, 23 July 2011

Police in Britain say music star Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home in north London.

A police statement said at this time the death is being treated as “unexplained.”

Winehouse, 27, underwent several rounds of treatment for drug addiction, the latest in May. The singer, known for her heavy tattoos and exaggerated beehive hair style, led a tumultuous life marked by drinking binges and physical altercations with her husband and others.

Last month she canceled a European tour after appearing disoriented and incoherent during her concert in Belgrade. Her performance met with boos and jeers from the audience.

Winehouse, born into a family of jazz musicians, shot to fame in Britain in 2003 with her debut album, called Frank. Her style, influenced by 1960s soul music, was unconventional and has been cited as an influence for later female stars.

She found worldwide success with her second album, the Grammy Award-winning album Back to Black. Her contralto vocals expressed both pain and defiance on her best-known single, “Rehab.”

The refrain to that song describes her reluctance to seek drug treatment: “They tried to make me go to rehab; I said no, no, no.”

British Artist Lucian Freud Dies at 88

Lucien Freud, 2005 (Photo: procsilas)

British Artist Lucian Freud Dies at 88
Thursday, 21 July 2011

British artist Lucian Freud, grandson of the founder of modern psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, has died. He was 88 years old.

The painter's New York art dealer, William Acquavella, says Freud passed away Wednesday night at his home in London after an unspecified illness.

Lucian Freud was famous for his dramatic self-portraits and paintings of nude women. He also was commissioned to paint a portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth.

In recent years, his paintings have sold for huge sums. In 2008, his portrait of a civil servant, entitled “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping,” fetched close to $34 million at Christie's auction house in New York. It was a record price paid for a painting by a living artist.

The buyer was later reported to be Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Freud was born in 1922 in Berlin, and his family moved to Britain in 1933 to escape the rise of Nazism in Germany. After a brief stint as a seaman in the British Navy in 1941, he devoted himself to art.

Known for such paintings as “The Painter's Room,” “Girl With a White Dog,” and “Self-Portrait With a Black Eye,” Freud is considered to be one of the most significant painters of his time.

Belarus Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek Dies at 96

Thursday, 21 July 2011

The former leader of the Catholic Church in Belarus, Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, has died in a Pinsk hospital at the age of 96.

In a statement the Catholic Church of Belarus said he died early Thursday. The cause of death was not specified.

After entering the priesthood in 1939, Swiatek was sentenced to death for spying by Soviet authorities. But he escaped when Nazi Germany's forces occupied the city of Brest.

When the Soviet army took control of Belarus in 1944, Swiatek was re-arrested and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in the Gulag prison system. He served more than nine years before being released and returning to the church.

Swiatek became archbishop of the Minsk diocese in 1991, and was named a cardinal in 1994. He headed the church in Belarus until 2006.

Photo: Cardinal Kazimier Sviontak, 2009. (Photographer: Serge Serebro, Vitebsk Popular News)

Australian Aborigine Actor David Ngoombujarra Dies

Photo: HVE/Home Vision Entertainment

Australian Aborigine Actor David Ngoombujarra Dies
Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Australia's best-known indigenous actor David Ngoombujarra, whose films included “Rabbit-Proof Fence” and “Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles,” has died. He was 44.

Ngoombujarra was found Sunday in a park in Freemantle, a port city near Perth on Australia's west coast. He later died at a Freemantle hospital. The cause of death has not yet been determined, but police say it was not suspicious.

Ngoombujarra won Australian Film Institute awards for his role in the movies “Black and White,” in which he played an Aborigine convicted of killing a white girl, and for “Blackfellas,” based on the Australian bestseller “The Day of the Dog” by Archie Weller.

He received a third AFI award for his part in the Australian television show, “The Circuit.”

Ngoombujarra was born in 1967 and became an actor in the late 1980s.

His last film was “Australia,” from 2008, in which he co-starred with fellow Australians Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

Apartheid-Era Defense Minister Malan Dies in South Africa

Monday, 18 July 2011

A South African defense minister who led military efforts against the anti-apartheid movement has died.

A statement released by the family of General Magnus Malan says he “died peacefully” early Monday at his home in Cape Town. He was 81.

Malan served as South Africa's defense minister from 1980 to 1991 and before that as army chief.

As defense minister, Malan organized the government's response to what he saw as a “total onslaught” against South Africa and its white-minority rule.

He deployed troops to control unrest in South African townships, and also sanctioned raids against anti-apartheid fighters in neighboring countries.

Later, Malan went on trial for the 1987 murders of 13 people in KwaZulu-Natal province. Malan and 19 others who were tried with him were eventually acquitted of those charges.

Malan is survived by his wife, three children and nine grandchildren.

Final Exits, 8-14 July 2011

Rob Grill of The Grass Roots, circa 1982.

Obituaries for 8-14 July 2011

8
* Kenny Baker, 85, American fiddler, complications from a stroke.
* Billy Blanco, 87, Brazilian composer, complications from a stroke.
* Roberts Blossom, 87, American actor (Doc Hollywood, Escape from Alcatraz, Home Alone).
* Sam Denoff, 83, American Emmy Award-winning television writer (The Dick Van Dyke Show, That Girl), Alzheimer's disease.
* Aleksis Dreimanis, 96, Latvian-born Canadian geologist.
* Pete Duranko, 67, American football player (Denver Broncos), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
* Betty Ford, 93, American First Lady (1974–1977) and co-founder of Betty Ford Center.
* Camille Lembi Zaneli, 61, Congolese Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Isangi (since 2000), plane crash. (Italian)
* George McAnthony, 45, Italian country singer, heart attack. (German)
* Paul Michael, 84, American actor, heart failure.
* Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez, 95, Spanish-born Mexican philosopher, writer and professor. (Spanish)

9
* Don Ackerman, 80, American basketball player (New York Knicks), after short illness.
* Facundo Cabral, 74, Argentine singer and songwriter, shot.
* Markos Dragoumis, 85, Greek columnist, author and politician. (Greek)
* Ralph Goldston, 82, American football player (Philadelphia Eagles, Hamilton Tiger-Cats).
* Carl T. Langford, 92, American politician, Mayor of Orlando, Florida (1967–1980).
* Percy Oliver, 92, Australian Olympic swimmer.
* Tatiana Pankova, 94, Russian actress, People's Artist (Maly Theatre). (Russian)
* Arvo Salo, 79, Finnish writer and politician, MP (1966–1970, 1979–1983) and Minister of Culture (1982–1983). (Finnish)
* Hideo Tanaka, 78, Japanese director (Sukeban Deka The Movie), stomach cancer. (Japanese)
* Würzel, 61, British guitarist (Motörhead), ventricular fibrillation.

10
* Pierrette Alarie, 89, Canadian soprano, wife of tenor Léopold Simoneau. (French)
* Alfonso Bauer, 93, Guatemalan political activist, nosocomial infection. (Spanish)
* Travis Bean, 63, American guitar maker, cancer.
* Ragnar Lundberg, 86, Swedish athlete. (Swedish)
* Frank Mascara, 81, American politician, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania (1995–2003).
* Roland Petit, 87, French ballet choreographer.
* Deacon Turner, 56, American football player (Cincinnati Bengals), shot.
* Lee Vines, 92, Canadian-born American television announcer (What's My Line?) and actor, complications from a fall and pneumonia.

11
* Michael Evans, 59, British Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of East Anglia (since 2003), prostate cancer.
* Tom Gehrels, 86, Dutch-born American astronomer.
* Rob Grill, 67, American singer and songwriter (The Grass Roots).
* Alex Hay, 78, British golf journalist.
* Andreas Ioannides, 53, Cypriot navy chief, explosion.
* Jaroslav Jiřík, 71, Czech hockey player (St. Louis Blues), plane crash.
* Lambros Lambrou, 45, Cypriot naval officer, Commander of the Evangelos Florakis Navy Base, explosion.
* George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, 88, British aristocrat, magazine editor and arts administrator, first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
* Fonce Mizell, 68, American record producer (Mizell Brothers). (death reported on this date)

12
* Premangsu Chatterjee, 83, Indian cricketer.
* William Crozier, 81, Irish artist.
* Howard Hilton, 47, American baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals).
* Allan Jeans, 77, Australian football player and coach, pulmonary fibrosis.
* Simon Jubani, 84, Albanian Roman Catholic prelate, after long illness. (Albanian)
* Ahmed Wali Karzai, 50, Afghan politician, brother of President Hamid Karzai, shot.
* Jokapeci Koroi, 79, Fijian politician, President of Fiji Labour Party (1991–2011).
* Charles Asa Schleck, 86, American Roman Catholic prelate, titular archbishop and under-secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (1995–2000).
* Sherwood Schwartz, 94, American television producer, creator of The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island.
* Zdeněk Sýkora, 91, Czech abstract painter.

13
* Al Debbo, 87, South African comedian.
* Cornel Fugaru, 71, Romanian composer, cancer. (Romanian)
* Jerry Ragovoy, 80, American songwriter ("Time Is on My Side"), stroke.
* Heinz Reincke, 86, German actor. (German)

14
* Leo Kirch, 84, German media entrepreneur.
* Kennedy Ondiek, 44, Kenyan Olympic athlete.
* Antonio Prieto, 85, Chilean singer and actor, cardiac arrest. (Spanish)

Mourners Say Final Farewell to Betty Ford

Thursday, 14 July 2011

Family, friends and admirers have said a final farewell to former U.S. first lady Betty Ford, who died last week at the age of 93.

Mrs. Ford, an outspoken advocate for women's rights and those battling addiction, was memorialized Thursday in the Michigan church where she married Gerald Ford more than six decades ago. Former president Bill Clinton and former first lady Barbara Bush were in attendance, as well as former vice president Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne Cheney.

Mrs. Cheney remembered the former first lady as a woman with style and courage, saying she changed lives for the better or saved lives through her efforts to fight breast cancer and addiction.

Mrs. Ford is to be laid to rest Thursday next to her husband, on what would have been his 98th birthday, on the grounds of the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Her flower-draped casket arrived Wednesday night in her hometown of Grand Rapids, where hundreds of people participated in a procession and public viewing.

Earlier this week, mourners paid tribute to Mrs. Ford at a service in Palm Desert, California. Those in attendance included U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and former president George W. Bush.

As first lady from 1974 to 1977, Mrs. Ford became known for her candor, famously discussing women's rights, premarital sex and abortion in a television interview. She was diagnosed with breast cancer while at the White House, and became a champion for breast cancer research and awareness.

After leaving the White House, she acknowledged and sought treatment for an addiction to alcohol and painkillers. In 1982, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center in California, still one of the most well-known and well-regarded treatment centers for substance abuse.

Mr. Ford, who died in 2006, was her second husband. The two wed shortly before he was elected to Congress in 1948. He became vice president in 1973 after the resignation of Spiro Agnew — and became president in 1974 after the Watergate scandal led president Richard Nixon to resign.

Final Exits, 1-7 July 2011

Anna Massey in the film Bunny Lake Is Missing, 1965

Obituaries for 1-7 July 2011

1
* Jane Baker, 88, American community organizer and politician, first female Mayor of San Mateo, California.
* Edmund Snow Carpenter, 88, American anthropologist.
* Charlie Craig, 73, American songwriter ("She's Single Again", "The Generation Gap"), lung cancer.
* Willie Fernie, 82, Scottish footballer, Alzheimer's disease.
* Raymond Jones, 52, American keyboardist (Chic) and songwriter, pneumonia.
* Anne LaBastille, 75, American author and ecologist.
* Bébé Manga, 60, Cameroonian singer, cardiac arrest. (French)
* Harold Nelson, 88, New Zealand Olympic runner.
* Brice Phillips, 90, American restaurateur.
* Ruth Roberts, 84, American songwriter ("Meet the Mets").
* Phil Shepardson, 76, American quiz show host (As Schools Match Wits) (1961–1991). (death reported on this date)

2
* Itamar Franco, 81, Brazilian politician, President (1992–1995), leukemia.
* Bill Greer, 65, American newspaper editor (The Miami Herald), staph infection.
* Olivera Marković, 87, Serbian actress. (Serbian)
* Ross Martin, 68, Australian Olympic cross-country skier, cycling accident.
* Chaturanan Mishra, 86, Indian politician and trade union leader, after long illness.
* Sir Oliver Napier, 75, Northern Irish politician, leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (1972–1984).
* Kip Tiernan, 85, American advocate for the homeless, cancer.
* Victor Villarreal, 41, American heavy metal singer, motorcycle accident.
* Carl Wedekind, American attorney and anti-death penalty activist.

3
* Fernando Areán, 67, Argentine footballer and coach. (Spanish)
* Iain Blair, 69, British romance novelist.
* Francis King, 88, British writer.
* Anna Massey, 73, British actress (Frenzy, Hotel du Lac), cancer.
* Fred Newman, 76, American psychotherapist.
* Sir Roy Redgrave, 85, British Army general.
* Len Sassaman, 31, American cryptographer, suicide.
* John C. Truesdale, 89, American National Labor Relations Board chairman (1998–2000), cancer.
* Konstantin Vrotsos, 19, Greek actor, car accident. (Spanish)

4
* Serban Cantacuzino, 70, Romanian prince and actor.
* Wes Covington, 79, American baseball player (Milwaukee Braves, Kansas City Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies), cancer.
* Rusty Farley, 57, American politician, member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives (2011).
* Otto von Habsburg, 98, Austro-Hungarian royal and politician, MEP (1979–1999).
* Zurab Kapianidze, 74, Georgian actor and politician, MP (1999–2003).
* Josh Lichtle, 23, American motocross rider, heat stroke.
* Pablo McNeil, 71, Jamaican Olympic athlete and coach, after long illness.
* Lawrence R. Newman, 86, American advocate for the deaf.
* Jane Scott, 92, American rock music critic.
* Gerhard Unger, 95, German opera singer.
* Zainuddin Muhammad Zain, 60, Indonesian Islamic cleric and politician, heart attack.

5
* Jaap Blokker, 69, Dutch businessman, cancer.
* Neil Dougherty, 50, American basketball coach (TCU).
* Malcolm Forsyth, 74, South African-born Canadian trombonist and composer, pancreatic cancer.
* David Getches, 68, American law professor and Native American rights lawyer, pancreatic cancer.
* Armen Gilliam, 47, American basketball player (Phoenix Suns, New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks), heart attack.
* Edward Hastings, 80, American director and co-founder of the American Conservatory Theater, complications from Lewy body dementia.
* George Lang, 86, Hungarian-born American restaurateur and cookbook author, Alzheimer's disease.
* Mika Myllylä, 41, Finnish Olympic gold medal-winning (1998) cross country skier. (body found on this date)
* Robert Sklar, 75, American film historian, cycling accident. (death reported on this date)
* John Sweet, 95, American actor (A Canterbury Tale).
* Gordon Tootoosis, 69, Canadian actor (Pocahontas, Legends of the Fall) and activist, pneumonia.
* Cy Twombly, 83, American painter, cancer.
* Shinji Wada, 61, Japanese mangaka (Sukeban Deka). (death reported on this date)

6
* Paul-André Crépeau, 85, Canadian legal academic.
* Daniel Mortimer Friedman, 95, American jurist.
* Carly Hibberd, 26, Australian racing cyclist, traffic collision.
* Mani Kaul, 66, Indian filmmaker, after long illness.
* George Kimball, 67, American boxing columnist (Boston Herald), esophageal cancer.
* John Mackey, 69, American Hall of Fame football player (Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers).
* Josef Suk, 81, Czech violinist, prostate cancer.
* Andreas Waldherr, 43, Austrian rally driver, workshop accident. (German)
* Mark Whitehead, 50, American Olympic cyclist.

7
* Ricardo Alegría, 90, Puerto Rican anthropologist, complications of heart disease.
* Peter Aucoin, 67, American professor of political science and public administration (Dalhousie University).
* Bill Boddy, 98, British motor sport journalist.
* Allan W. Eckert, 80, American historian.
* Manuel Galbán, 80, Cuban guitarist, heart attack.
* Stewart A. Hay, 55, New Zealand businessman.
* Yuri Kukin, 78, Russian singer-songwriter. (Russian)
* Humberto Leal, 38, Mexican murderer, lethal injection.
* José Carlos Martínez, 48, Argentine politician, Senator (since 2007), car crash. (Spanish)
* Rizalino Navarro, 72, Filipino business executive, Secretary of Trade and Industry (1992–1996), heart attack.
* Miguel Gatan Purugganan, 79, Filipino Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Ilagan (1974–1999).
* Everett Reynolds, 83, American civil rights leader, cancer.
* Fred Scialla, 56, American actor (Hoffa).
* Olav Versto, 60, Norwegian journalist and editor (Verdens Gang), apparent drowning. (Norwegian)
* Dick Williams, 82, American baseball player and Hall of Fame manager (Oakland Athletics), ruptured aortic aneurysm.

Michelle Obama and Past Presidents, First Ladies Gather for Betty Ford Funeral

Betty Ford during the state funeral of Gerald Ford in early 2007.

Michelle Obama and Past Presidents, First Ladies Gather for Betty Ford Funeral
Tuesday, 12 July 2011

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and former President George W. Bush are among those gathering at Tuesday's funeral for former first lady Betty Ford, who died Friday in California at the age of 93.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a former first lady herself, is attending with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Former first ladies Rosalynn Carter and Nancy Reagan also planned to attend.

The service for Mrs. Ford is being held at a church in Palm Desert, California. Her remains will be flown to Michigan for a public viewing and burial alongside her husband, former President Gerald Ford, who died in 2006.

Mrs. Ford was an outspoken advocate for women's rights and women's health.

As first lady from 1974 to 1977, she became known for her candor, famously discussing women's rights, premarital sex and abortion in a television interview. She was diagnosed with breast cancer while at the White House, and became a champion for breast cancer research and awareness.

After leaving the White House, Mrs. Ford acknowledged and sought treatment for an addiction to alcohol and painkillers. In 1982, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center in California, still one of the most well-known and well-regarded treatment centers for substance abuse.

Mrs. Ford was born in Chicago in 1918. She moved to New York in her twenties and worked as a dancer and model.

The late President Gerald Ford was her second husband. The two wed shortly before he was elected to serve in Congress in 1948. He became vice president in 1973 after the resignation of Spiro Agnew — and became president in 1974 after the Watergate scandal led President Richard Nixon to resign.

President Barack Obama said Mrs. Ford distinguished herself through her courage and compassion. He said that as the nation's first lady, she was a powerful advocate for women's health and women's rights.

Afghan President's Half-Brother Assassinated

12 July 2011
Phillip Ittner
Kabul

Ahmad Wali Karzai, the half brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a powerful political figure in his own right, has been killed in his home in  Kandahar, apparently by his own bodyguard.

The Taliban is claiming responsibility for the assassination of Ahmad Wali Karzai, who served as the head of the provincial council in Kandahar, a region of Afghanistan significant both as the birthplace of the Taliban and the focus of the recent "surge" of U.S. troops in the country.

A clearly shaken Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed the death of his brother during a press conference with visiting French President Nikolas Sarkozy.

"My younger brother was martyred in his house today," the Afghan president said. "This is the life of all Afghan people. I hope these miseries which every Afghan family faces will one day end."

Ahmad Wali Karzai was a controversial figure on the Afghan political scene. Considered the most powerful man in Kandahar, he had been accused of criminality, corruption and drug running. But he was also a broker for stability in the strategically important area. He consistently rallied the tribes to show support for the central government in Kabul. His death will leave a vacuum at a time when NATO and Afghan government forces are trying to regain the initiative in the 10-year-old war.

The outgoing commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, conveyed his personal condolences to President Karzai and swiftly issued a condemnation of the killing. He said that the international forces would assist the government in bringing to justice those involved in the murder.

While the Taliban has issued a claim of responsibility for the killing of Ahmad Wali Karzai, there is no clear proof it orchestrated the murder. It has, in the past, capitalized on events not of its own making.

All sides in the conflict are trying to show strength as the apparent endgame in the war gains momentum. Both NATO forces and Taliban leaders want to enter peace negotiations from a position of strength.

The assassination sends the message that the Taliban is still very much a force to be reckoned with, says Afghan member of parliament Daud Sultanzoi.

"This is a show of power. And they show how far they can reach. How deep they can penetrate. And this means that we have to reckon with that and be prepared for worse things. Every time they do something like this, it’s not just the action itself but it’s the message that is sent through those actions that is more important," he said.

Reports that Ahmad Wali Karzai's killer was a member of the Karzai inner circle also show that security is far from guaranteed in Afghanistan, regardless of how much effort and expense is devoted to achieving it.

Police and military forces are on high alert in Kandahar, with extra roadblocks and checkpoints in place to try and capture any other individuals who may have had a role in the assassination.

President Karzai’s office says he is traveling to the city to collect his brother's body and initiate a full investigation.

Ahmad Wali Karzai
* Born in the southern Afghani city of Karz in 1961.
* Member of the Kandahar Provincial Council, the local governing body for the region, since 2005. Served as council's chief.
* Openly accused in the Afghan parliament in 2007 of being involved in the international drug trade.
* Suspected of orchestrating voter fraud in his brother's favor near Kandahar during the 2009 presidential election.

Photo: Ahmad Wali Karzai speaking to the media following a shura in Kandahar in June 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Mark O'Donald/Released, ISAF Headquarters Public Affairs Office from Kabul, Afghanistan

Argentine Folk Singer Killed in Guatemala

Saturday, 9 July 2011

One of Latin America's most famous folk singers, Facundo Cabral, has been murdered in Guatemala.

Officials say gunmen opened fire on the Argentine singer's vehicle Saturday in Guatemala City. At least one other person was wounded in the attack.

The 74-year-old Cabral had been on his way to the airport. A second car carrying one or more of his bodyguards was also struck by bullets.

The motive of the shooting was not clear.

Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said officials are investigating.

Cabral became famous in the 1970s as a protest singer. He went into exile in Mexico after Argentina came under military rule in 1976.

One of his most well-known songs, “No Soy de Aqui, Ni Soy De Alla” - “I'm Not From Here Nor There” – was covered by many other artists, including Spanish singer Julio Iglesias.

(Photo of singer and writer Facundo Cabral by UNLP.)

Former First Lady Betty Ford Dies

Former U.S. first lady Betty Ford, an outspoken advocate for women's rights and the founder of the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse, has died at the age of 93. Family members said she died Friday evening.

Mrs. Ford was born in Chicago in 1918. She moved to New York in her twenties where she worked as a dancer and a model.

The late president Gerald Ford was her second husband. The two wed shortly before he was elected to serve in congress in 1948. In 1974, the couple moved to the White House, after the Watergate scandal led president Richard Nixon to resign.

As first lady, Betty Ford became known for her candor, famously discussing women's rights, premarital sex, and abortion in a television interview. She was also diagnosed with breast cancer while at the White House, and became an advocate for breast cancer research and awareness.

After leaving the White House, Mrs. Ford admitted and sought treatment for an addiction to alcohol and painkillers. She co-founded the Betty Ford Center in 1982, still one of the most well-known and well-regarded treatment centers for substance abuse.

President Barack Obama said Mrs. Ford distinguished herself through her courage and compassion. He said that as the nation's first lady, she was a powerful advocate for women's health and women's rights.

Former president Jimmy Carter praised Mrs. Ford for her work in improving mental health and substance abuse care.

Former president George H.W. Bush called Mrs. Ford a “courageous first lady,” a “wonderful wife and mother,” and a “great friend.”

Another former first lady, Nancy Reagan said Mrs. Ford was an “inspiration to so many” thanks to her efforts at the Betty Ford Center, and to educate people about breast cancer.

Illustration: Betty Ford's official White House portrait, painted in 1977 by Felix de Cossio.

Buena Vista Social Club Guitarist, Manuel Galban, Dies

Manuel Galban and Ry Cooder, 2003 (Photo: Nonesuch)

Buena Vista Social Club Guitarist, Manuel Galban, Dies
Friday, 8 July 2011

Manuel Galban, the internationally-renowned Cuban guitarist featured in the Buena Vista Social Club, has died of a heart attack in Havana.

A statement from Galban's publicist said the award-winning musician died Thursday.

The publicist said it was a “sad day” for Cuban music and its fans, who he said will miss Galban's “enormous impact worldwide” and his “warm smile.”

The 80-year-old musician got his professional start as a young teenager in 1944. He rose to prominence in Cuba as a member of the Los Zafiros group, whose sound blended the Caribbean island's traditional music with rock and other styles.

In the 1970s, Galban formed a group known as Batey, which traveled the world performing Cuban music for international audiences.

And in the 1990s, Galban's career surged in a new direction, when he appeared in the Buena Vista Social Club documentary about a group of older Cuban music stars. The film, a collaboration with a U.S. producer, Ry Cooder, led to a group of the same name, and the resulting album was an international sensation.

Galban teamed up with Cooder again in 2003 to record an instrumental album called mambo Sineundo, which won a Grammy award.

Pakistan Rejects US Claim About Slain Journalist

8 July 2011
VOA News

The top-ranking U.S. military officer says elements within the Pakistani government apparently "sanctioned" the killing of a journalist in late May, but he could not tie the death to the country's intelligence service.

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says he has not seen anything to counter reports that Islamabad approved the beating death of Pakistani reporter Saleem Shahzad.

An unidentified Pakistani government spokesman told the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan that Mullen's statements are "extremely irresponsible."  He said Pakistan has established an independent panel to investigate Shahzad's death.  

Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency has dismissed allegations of its involvement as "baseless."

Shahzad, who worked for the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online, disappeared from  Islamabad on May 29.  His body was found in a canal two days later bearing signs of torture.

Before his death, Shahzad had been investigating alleged ties between Pakistan's military and Islamist groups. He reported that al-Qaida militants had attacked a Pakistani naval base after talks failed to secure the release of two naval officials arrested on suspicion of links to the global terror network.

Mullen acknowledged U.S. relations with Pakistan are "under extraordinary pressure."

He said Islamabad's already fragile bond with Washington became severely strained when U.S. special operations forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in a raid on his compound deep into Pakistan in May.

American Artist Cy Twombly Dies at 83

Tuesday, 5 July 2011

Cy Twombly, an American painter, known for his giant scribbles and graffiti-styled art, has died at a hospital in Rome.

A spokesman for the Gagosian Gallery, which represented Twombly's work, said the artist died Tuesday at the age of 83. The spokesman did not specify a cause of death, but Twombly had suffered from cancer for several years.

Twombly, whose full name was Edwin Parker Twombly, was born in the eastern U.S. state of Virginia. His six-decade career spanned a number of artistic movements, but he was best known for a unique style that included oversize canvasses, abstract scribbles, incorporating words into his paintings and drawings, and his use of the color white,

Twombly had been living in Italy since the late 1950s.

Final Exits, 29-30 June 2011

Obituaries for 29-30 June 2011

29
* Billy Costello, 55, American boxer, lung cancer.
* Stefano Gobbi, 81, Italian priest, founder of the Marian movement. (German)
* Domenico Pecile, 88, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno (1983–1998).
* K. D. Sethna, 106, Indian scholar and writer.

30
* Preston Carpenter, 77, American football player (Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins).
* David Dunseith, 76, British broadcaster (BBC Radio Ulster).
* Ron Foster, 61, American rock drummer and singer (Iron City Houserockers), liver cancer.
* Cassandra Hodges, 28, American voice actress (Funimation).
* Tom Kruse, 96, Australian outback mailman and documentary subject (The Back of Beyond).
* Jimmy Roselli, 85, American singer, heart complications.
* Jay Dee Springbett, 36, Australian record industry executive and Australian Idol judge.
* Georg Sterzinsky, 75, German Roman Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Berlin (1989–2011), after long illness.
* Sean Wight, 47, Scottish-born Australian football player, lung cancer.